LONDON, April 11 (Xinhua) -- The global apparent steel use will increase by 2.9 percent to 1,454 million tons in 2013, following growth of 1.2 percent last year, said the World Steel Association (worldsteel) Thursday.

The worldsteel Economics Committee met April 6-7 in Dusseldorf, Germany, and updated the industry outlook.

The key risks to the global economy, including Euro zone crisis and the U.S. fiscal cliff issue, have all stabilized considerably in the early part of 2013, said worldsteel in the latest Short Range Outlook (SRO) for 2013 and 2014 released on April 11.

The worldsteel expect a recovery in global steel demand to kick in by the second half, led by emerging economies, especially China.

According to the figures of SRO, the industry association forecasts Chinese steel demand this year will grow 3.5 percent to 668.8 million tons, which is revised up by around 10 million tons compared to the previous figure given last October.

Chinese steel demand next year will increase by 2.5 percent to 686 million tons, pushing the global steel demand to 1,500 million tons, it said. Chinese steel consumption in 2012 grew by 1.9 percent to 646 million tons.

The U.S. steel demand growth, which witnessed an 8.4 percent growth in 2012 due to the automotive and energy sectors and an increasingly resilient construction recovery, is expected to increase by 2.7 percent to 99.3 million tons and 2.9 percent to 100 million tons in 2013 and 2014.

In the SRO, worldsteel forecasts that China economic growth will accelerate to 8.2 percent in 2013 and 8.5 percent in 2014, while the U.S. growth rate will stand at 2 percent and 2.6 percent respectively.

Steel demand in India is expected to pick up and will grow by 5.9 percent to 75.8 million tons in 2013 and by 7 percent next year. The worldsteel cited the reform measures aimed at narrowing the fiscal deficit and measures to improve the foreign direct investment climate as the main reasons in driving the Indian steel demand.

Japanese steel use, however, is expected to decline for the second consecutive year this year by 2.2 percent to 62.6 million tons because of the contracting shipbuilding and automotive industry. In 2014, it is expected to contract again by 0.6 percent, said worldsteel.

The European Union countries saw a 9.3 percent decline in steel demand last year, as the euro crisis weighed heavily on economic activities in the region. Steel demand in the region is expected to shrink further by 0.5 percent in 2013, but return to grow at 3.3 percent in 2014 to reach 144.1 million tons, according to worldsteel.

Steel Demand

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